


the comfort blanket protocol

by iamirondad



Series: "fragile things, helpless things, broken things" whumptober 2020 [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Worried Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:34:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26749579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamirondad/pseuds/iamirondad
Summary: Tony lowered his voice, to a whisper, “Where’smykid, Hammer?”“Hold on, hold on, hold on-“ Hammer sang, “Can we catch up first?”“No.”TLDR: Tony only has minutes to save Peter.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: "fragile things, helpless things, broken things" whumptober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947778
Comments: 12
Kudos: 324
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	the comfort blanket protocol

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after Endgame, but obviously isn't canon - Tony is alive!

Tony could recall how chaotic his life had been, but not even taking on alien armies, with a team of elite superheroes, would mean as much to him, as his children did.

Morgan and Peter together, as sister and brother, deserved to be remembered, it was as beautiful as the Renaissance, because no photograph would ever capture Tony’s disbelief, whenever they darted into a room together.

 _Still,_ normal life carried on, whatever ‘ _normal_ ’ meant.

Not many semiretired superheroes had adopted a self-sacrificing Spider-Kid, who managed to topple, head-first, into danger, without any real warning; Tony was sure he was the only one. He wouldn’t change anything though, even if the kid found a new way to _almost_ give Tony a heart attack, every other week.

Tony was home alone, most weekdays, mindlessly doing paperwork for Pepper, or finishing household chores _._

 _Selfishly,_ Peter was at school, Morgan was at Kindergarten, and everybody else was working.

Peter was in senior year, which meant, he was usually too busy to hang out with any of them, even after school. He’d even dropped a few patrol duties, to make sure he was concentrating on his upcoming tests. He didn’t stay over as regularly, as he used to, because more often than not, he was bunking over with Ned or MJ, desperately trying to ready themselves for the coming onslaught of standardized testing.

At night-time, Morgan started performing a bedroom ritual. She’d get out of bed, fifteen or so minutes after being read a story, sit on the floor outside her bedroom door, with her arms crossed. She’d pout, and sometimes even frown. Tony and Pepper would tell her to get back to bed, but their pleas would be ignored.

Morgan knew how to stand her ground.

Most nights they would ask her if she was thirsty, or if she wanted one of them to stay in her room until she was asleep. It never worked. Usually, she would fall asleep, waiting, and occasionally, she would stand down, when she got tired.

A silent protest, it seemed, but for what, they weren’t entirely sure. It wasn’t until Peter stopped over for a week when Morgan’s intentions become _clear_ because she didn’t do when he was there.

She missed her brother.

_‘Why didn’t you tell us that, Little Miss?’_

_‘Didn’t want you to worry.’_

_Oh,_ she was definitely her father’s daughter. He made sure to point out, that she could confide in him with anything, even if it was sad. He didn’t want her growing up, internalizing everything, he’d done that, and it sucked.

Morgan’s problem was a simple fix, they made sure Peter visited more often, on weekends, and every Wednesday afternoon, he collected her from Kindergarten; they’d go out for ice cream or waffles.

Tony was sprawled across his desk, with his face uncomfortably laid across a pile of paperwork that he was yet to get done, “Uhhh.” He groaned, “Fri, is it bedtime?”

“ _Bedtime is a social construct, Boss_.”

“You—” He sat up, stretching his arms over his head, “You’ve been talking to Peter too much.”

A ringtone traveled around the office, and Tony’s computer screen lit up, Friday announced, “ _Incoming call from Morgan’s Kindergarten_.”

Tony sat up straight, with narrowed eyes, he swiped his hand along, accepting the call, “Hello.”

“ _Mr. Stark—"_

“Miss. Jenkins?” He raised an eyebrow, “Is everything okay?”

 _“I’m afraid not, sir.”_ She sighed, _“Nobody has turned up to collect Morgan. I know these things can happen—”_

Tony darted his eyes to the corner of his screen, to make sure he hadn’t skipped a day, but it was definitely Wednesday, “Peter is meant to collecting her today—” He interrupted, as his stomach dropped to his feet.

 _“Oh, of course_.” Miss. Jenkins exclaimed _, “Could something have come up and he forgot?”_

Tony moved his hand across his screen and attempted to ring Peter’s phone, but it went straight to voicemail, “No, he’d never—”

The screen blinked, alerting him that he had another call waiting, from a blocked number.

“I—Something’s—” Tony rubbed the nape of his neck, “Uh, I’m gonna send somebody to pick Morgan up. Can you—” He stuttered, “Can you stay with her? Don’t let her out of your sight.”

 _“Of course, Mr. Stark.”_ Her tone turned frantic, as had his _, “Is everything okay?”_

“I hope so.” He answered, before hanging up, but it was too late, the blocked number, had stopped calling, “Shit.”

“ _Boss, I have determined that May was the closest to Morgan, and I have instructed her to collect her.”_ Friday said, _“She wants updates on Peter’s whereabouts pronto.”_

Tony clambered out his chair, pacing, “Yeah, um—”

The piercing ring came again, but without having to be asked, Friday patched them through.

Tony crossed his arms across his chest, “Hello.” He barked, into the silence.

A familiar obnoxious sneer followed, _“Anthony…”_

 _Justin Hammer_.

Fifteen years ago, he gave Ivan Vanko the ammunition to destroy innocent lives.

One of the lives that could have been claimed, happened to a young and undeniably brave, Peter Parker.

Tony lowered his voice, to a whisper, “Where’s _my_ kid, Hammer?”

 _“Hold on, hold on, hold on-“_ Hammer sang _, “Can we catch up first?”_

“No.”

Hammer hummed _, “It feels like only yesterday, when I told your wife, that I was gonna make a problem for you.”_

“Yeah?” Tony clenched his fists, by his sides, “I’m pretty sure you told her we were gonna be seeing you ‘ _real soon_ ,’ but it’s been…” He chuckled gravely, “…What? Fifteen years.”

_“In my defense, I was gone for five of those.”_

“You make that sound like ten years is ‘ _real soon._ ’” Tony mocked, “I know, for a fact, you’re inside Maximum Facility – so, if you’re wasting my time—”

 _“Wasting your time?”_ Hammer laughed, _“Is…your intern missing, Anthony?”_

Tony learned that trick from Natasha, it was easy to get a bad guy to admit to their wrongdoings when you pretend to think that they are not the ones behind it.

Friday had traced Hammer’s call, and fortunately, he was still in jail, he was obviously using a burner phone, _“Did Peter Parker forget to pick up your precious little daughter?”_

“Where—”

Hammer shushed him, “ _You’ve got to applaud my brilliance, for I have outsmarted the guards and even you. From inside these walls, I’ve managed to pull off a…”_ He paused _, “Tony Stark Heist. Let’s call it that. You took everything from me, and now I’ve taken part of your everything, from you.”_

“Look—” Tony snarled, “Hammer, my kids have nothing to do with this.”

 _“Oh, but they do.”_ Hammer exclaimed, _“I’m not a monster, don’t confuse me with that – Peter is at my Headquarters.”_

“What?”

 _“I’m helping you.”_ He pointed out, _“Peter Parker, is trapped inside, my Headquarters. The one your little Russian friend tore apart.”_

“Why are you telling me this?”

_“Because I love getting the last laugh.”_

With that confession, he hung up.

“Friday—Can you—” Tony blurted, “Just get everybody!”

_“On it, Boss.”_

Tony pressed his chest, activating the nanotech suit; he rushed out, almost tearing the front door off its hinges.

He took the skies, concealing himself amongst the clouds. This was a _trap_ , he’d be dumb not to see it, but Peter’s life was in danger, so logic had to be thrown aside _._

Hammer Industries had closed down, following his downfall, but the Headquarters, stood unchanged. One of the only buildings that remained abandoned.

Tony landed, in what used to be the entranceway.

It was eerie, somehow, in a little over a decade, the building had aged, attributed to the graffiti on top of graffiti and nature was beginning the claim it back too.

Tony tore off the metal boards off the main entranceway, that had been put up to stop trespassers from entering, “Scan for life, Fri—” He found the door handle and made his way inside.

_“One heat signature located.”_

Blood rushed in his ears, he didn’t understand Hammer’s plan, but he knew it couldn’t be good, “Okay.”

He followed the schematics, towards the located heat signature.

It led him to a door, he rushed over, pulling it open, swiftly.

Peter’s voice screamed out, “Stop!”

Tony looked up, startled, “Kid—” 

Peter sat, in the center of the room, shackled to chair, by his ankles and arms. His face was a gallery of superficial cuts and bruises, “Don’t move.”

“Okay, _okay_ —”

Tony eyeballed the chains that were holding Peter, they’d didn’t seem particularly sturdy, they looked old. If he needed to, Peter could potentially escape them, but the kid was dangerously still.

“Pete?”

Tony’s stomach lunged forward, he fought against the bile rising in his throat.

There was a bomb, strapped to the side of the chair. _How original._

Peter slowly bend down, he shrieked, tears welling in his eyes, “The timer—it’s –it’s going—"

_“Boss, I believe you tripped the system.”_

“I know.” Tony retracted his mask, “I’m sorry, kiddo.” He rushed over, kneeling in front of him, “It must be rigged, with the door.”

They had 3 minutes and 45 seconds – nowhere near enough time for Tony to unscrew it all and cut out the correct wires.

Tony used the lasers, in his gauntlet to cut through the chains holding Peter down.

Peter breathed rheumatically, “I can’t move—” He cried, “It will—”

“I know—” Tony cupped Peter’s cheek, “Fri, what’s the blast radius?”

_“3.7 miles. There are currently 2456 civilians, in immediate danger.”_

_Of course,_ Hammer made sure there was collateral, putting Peter in harm’s way wasn’t enough.

Tony planned, on the spot, “Roll out the Iron Legion and inform the local authorities.”

_“On it.”_

Peter leaned into Tony’s palm, he choked out a sob, “You need to go.”

Tony snapped his head up, “Kid—"

“There’s no time, you’ve gotta get out—” Peter’s chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, “You know you can’t save me, this time, Mr. Stark.” He ducked his head, “There’s no point in throwing away your life…”

“Oh, kid…” He brushed tears off Peter’s cheek, with his thumb, “My Peter—”

Peter swallowed the lump, in his throat, “It’s okay.”

Tony leaned up, pressing a kiss on Peter’s forehead, “I’m sorry.”

“I understand.”

Tony muttered, “You really don’t.” He quickly looped his hands under Peter’s arms, swiftly pulling him off the seat, he turned around, taking his place.

Peter yelped, swaying on his feet, trying to get used to the solid ground, “Tony!”

Tony managed a small smile.

Peter cried, with wide eyes, “You tricked me?”

Tony nodded, “Get ready to run, kiddo–” He cautioned, “—On my signal.”

Peter threw his hands out, “What signal?!”

“Friday.” Tony cleared his throat, “Initiate the ‘ _comfort blanket’_ protocol.”

The front of the suit opened, and Tony clambered out of the chair.

“Now!” He grabbed Peter’s hand and dragged him, out of the door.

Peter was limping, with a cry.

Tony locked an arm around him, lifting him off his feet.

As soon as they made it to the entrance, Tony leaped to the ground, shielding Peter in his arms.

The noise was deafening, but the blast wasn’t much.

“Wow.” Tony sighed, leaning his head on the concrete below, “I can’t believe that actually worked.”

Peter groaned, “Uh.”

“Hey there, kiddo.” He carefully helped Peter into a sitting position, “Never tell me that I can’t save you.” He bopped his nose, with his finger.

Peter bent forward, leaning his head on Tony’s arm, “What—” His voice cracked, “What is the comfort blanket protocol?”

Tony brushed his hands over the side of his undersuit, trying to get rid of a layer of grit, “Basically, the nanotech smothered the bomb and absorbed the blast.”

“That’s cool.”

Tony wrapped his arm around the kid, “And it worked.”

Peter laughed, “It’s you, of course, it did.”

“Ha.”

“You’re impossible.”

“Hm, I guess, _maybe_.” Tony pressed a kiss against Peter’s temple, “Justin Hammer’s got nothing on me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Whumptober! I'm hoping, I can stay on top of all these, this year, but being the idiot I am, I chose to publish a multi-chapter fic at the same time, so it's a crazy time! Anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed the first installment. 
> 
> Unlike last year, I am publishing these separately because last year, having them all in one, seemed to confuse some readers! Hope this works out better.


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